Navy Midshipmen Seeks New Basketball Coach as Ed DeChellis Retires

The Navy Midshipmen will spend the offseason looking for a new men’s basketball coach for the first time in more than a decade.

Feb 11, 2017; Annapolis, MD, USA; Navy Midshipmen head coach Ed DeChellis looks up to the clock during the second half against the Lafayette Leopards at Alumni Hall. Navy Midshipmen defeated Lafayette Leopards 68-60. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Navy Midshipmen have a new task on their men’s basketball offseason to-do list — find a new head coach.

Ed DeChellis, who has led Navy for 14 years and has been a head coach for nearly three decades, announced his retirement on Wednesday.

Navy named associate head coach Jon Perry as the program’s interim head coach as athletic director Chet Gladchuk conducts a national search for DeChellis’ replacement.

DeChellis finished his career with 196 wins at Navy, the third-most in school history. He coached in 29 Army-Navy games, tied with Don DeVoe for the most in school history, while his nine conference tournament wins are second only to DeVoe.

He also coached in 426 games at Navy, the most of any coach in program history.

DeChellis provided a statement in Navy’s release announcing his decision, as he thanked his family, players and Navy supporters for his time leading the Midshipmen.

"It has been a great honor to serve at the Naval Academy and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach so many exceptional young men," said DeChellis.

Navy was not the only program he led. Before he arrived in Annapolis, he guided the programs at East Tennessee State and at Penn State. Among his accomplishments was winning conference coach of the year awards at all three schools, most recently in 2022.

While he never got Navy to the NCAA Tournament, he did guide ETSU there in 2003 and Penn State there in 2011. He also took the Nittany Lions to an NIT title in 2009.

DeChellis went 415-461 for his career, with 105 wins at ETSU, 114 wins at Penn State and 196 wins at Navy.

Before he announced his retirement, he was one of seven active head coaches to win at least 100 games at three different schools, joining Steve Alford, John Calipari, Rick Barnes, Kelvin Sampson, Herb Sendek and Buzz Williams.

He was also a head coach for 29 straight seasons, which was the fifth-longest streak in Division I basketball. The only coaches that had done so longer are Rick Barnes (38 years), Dana Altman (36 years), Bill Self (32 years), Tom Izzo (30 years) and Steve Alford (30 years).

"Just extending appreciation does not measure up to the immense gratitude our Academy has for Coach Dechellis," said Gladchuk. "He has been rock solid in every dimension of leadership as our head coach and as a distinguished representative of the values this institution represents.”

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